Laparoscopic surgery is one type of minimally invasive surgery in which a surgeon uses a trocar port to access a surgical site within the abdominal cavity of a patient. The benefits of laparoscopic surgery, as compared to open surgery, include less pain, shorter recovery time, less scarring, and lower cost.
One common type of laparoscopic surgery is a cholecysetctomy, or the removal of the gall bladder. In general, a laparoscopic cholecystectomy requires several small incisions in the abdomen to allow for the insertion of surgical instruments as well as a video camera for viewing the surgical site. Once the instruments and the camera are positioned at or near the surgical site, the gall bladder is located and separated from its connective tissues to allow for removal from the patient. Common separation techniques include cutting the tissues with a device that uses a high frequency current, such as a monopolar hook or paddle. While effective, such a cutting device can deliver energy in all directions, causing the tissues which surround the targeted tissues to become inadvertently damaged. The same issue can also arise in other laparoscopic procedures that require the cutting of tissue.
Endoscopic surgery affords another minimally invasive way to access the abdominal cavity in which access is obtained via natural openings such as the mouth or anus. Many types of endoscopic procedures require the separation of tissues. Similar to laparoscopic procedures, common separation techniques for endoscopic procedures include cutting the tissues with a device that uses a high frequency current, e.g., a needle knife device. However, as noted above, such a device can cause inadvertent damage to tissues that surround the targeted tissue.
Accordingly, there remains a need for improved methods and devices for dissecting and/or coagulating tissue.